Maybe the first negative public review I've ever had the displeasure of wanting to write. I'm generally an accept the chips where they fall kind of guy, but this experience was so extraordinarily disappointing I feel compelled to share it.
I hired Rene Basque of Actus Law to represent me in disputing a bogus lien filed against a property I own. As someone from out of town I felt good in their hands, and having reviewed the merits of our case both Rene and myself felt it was not only winnable but a relatively open and shut case.
You have X amount of days to file a lien, the lien was not filed in time, we had evidence to support that so there you have it.
Rene felt confident enough we would win that he didn't attend the hearing, although he was the lawyer I had hired and the ONLY lawyer I had discussed the case with. Without my sign-off or knowledge he sent a junior lawyer to represent the case. I'm not here to criticize the judge's decision, but we lost. And not only did we lose but have been ordered to pay $750 for the other parties' legal fees.
Did Rene call me to deliver this news? No he did not; his secretary sent me an email with the judge's decision attached which I had to read through to determine the outcome; attached with that document was a statement of account informing me of outstanding fees. To this point Rene was always pretty good about calling me with updates.
I was understandably upset and booked a call first thing the following Monday morning to do a post mortem. They expressed their shock and dismay at the outcome but concluded it was just tough luck and that they bare no responsibility for the outcome.
So in the end I spent $5800 to fight a lien that should have been easily defeated; not only lost but owe the folks filing it an additional $750 in legal fees. ( on a side note, I have shared the fees Actus charged with some of my representation where I live and they said it's outrageous what they charged, but that's on me for accepting it)
When I asked Rene what they were willing to do given the unexpected result, given he didn't even attend the hearing he said "I take no responsibility" but "I'll take $500 off your bill if that's what makes you feel better". This wasn't about money, but about knowing I had good legal partners that were with me and were willing to put THEIR money where there mouth was by acknowledging some role in the outcome. I declined their ungracious and cynical offer and paid the remaining balance in full.
I have given 1 star for the lack of character, humility and transparency that Rene and Actus demonstrated. Very disappointed and will not be using their services in the future.